In this week’s blog post I will be taking a further look at Animal Spirits – our guides when we journey into the Lower World. In the last blog, I focussed on what Animal Spirits are and how you can find one. This week, I’ll look at what we can do with our Animal Spirits and explain how they can help us in our everyday life.
What can I do with my Animal Spirit?
The possibilities are endless but let’s concentrate on three – on any shamanic journey, we can set our intention to ask our Animal Spirit for a healing for our self, or we may ask a question, or we may ask our Animal Spirit to strengthen our shamanic connections.
Okay, let’s take those one at a time. So, if I want a healing?
Firstly, you should ask only for yourself. To interfere in someone else’s healing journey would be sorcery. Concentrate on yourself for now. There are means of assisting others but I’m going to come to that when I finish my blogs for Newbies and progress to my Advanced blog series – let’s walk together before we start to run!
How do I get help with a specific ailment?
Journey to the Lower World with the intention of asking for a healing for your ailment (if you’re new to shamanic journeying, check out my previous blog post, Journeying For Newbies). Ask your usual Animal Spirit, or one who appears to you and who is best suited to heal this issue to begin the healing process. Your Animal Spirit’s method might be different to my Wolf but I visualise him breathing out golden light, what the Q’ero call Sami energy, into the affected area. My partner’s Griffin wraps him in her wings and her golden tears fall upon the affected area.
If there’s nothing specific bothering me, can I ask for a general healing?
Yes, indeed, and this is a lovely thing to experience. Journey to the Lower World with the intention of asking for a general healing. Ask your usual Spirit Animal, or one who appears to you and who is best suited to provide a general healing, to begin the healing process. Again, your Animal Spirit’s method might be different to my Wolf but I imagine him breathing golden light, Sami energy, into my heart chakra until it seems to fill my whole body. My partner’s Griffin wraps him in her wings and her golden tears fall into his solar plexus chakra.
How do I ask my Animal Spirit a question?
It’s very simple – journey to the Lower World with the intention of asking your Animal Spirit a question. When your Animal Spirit appears – ask away!
What question can I ask?
You may ask any question you like but it is best not to ask a binary question (one that has a yes or no answer).
In general, the answer to your question will be spoken in metaphor, so you might, at first, be a little bit confused by the words that are spoken or by the images that you are shown. Do not panic! You need to allow the answer to ‘flower’ and do not be concerned if the answer does not seem to make much sense. In time, it will become clear.
Is there anything an Animal Spirit is particularly adept at answering?
Your Animal Spirit is from the supportive and nurturing environment of the Lower World, so you will find particularly helpful advice on combatting anything that is a source of concern or stress in your life. If you want wisdom or inspiration, however, your question might be better directed to your Upper World Guardian (see my upcoming blog, Upper World Guardians for Newbies).
Can I ask someone else what the answer means?
You could do but try not to deprive yourself of your direct connection with Spirit – it is for you to make discoveries about the answer you have been given. Weeks later, you may find that you unpick something totally new from the answer or images with which you were presented.
I like to give the example of when Wolf showed me an image of Ganesha in answer to a question. At the time, I knew nothing about the Hindu elephant-headed god but researching Ganesha brought all sorts of answers to my question. I learned that Ganesha is the ‘Remover of Obstacles’, which, in the context of my question, was very interesting. Also, Ganesha had been pointing insistently to a blue jewel at its throat – researching why Ganesha was often depicted as blue gave me another answer. Realising that blue is also the colour of the throat chakra, gave me yet another answer.
How can I strengthen my shamanic connections?
The Seer’s Rite from the Munay Ki is particularly well-suited for a re-affirmation by your Animal Spirit. As a reminder, in the Seer’s Rite, a crown of golden light and a necklace of light are traced by a shaman’s pi stone across our head, creating new cerebral pathways from our third eye to our occipital lobe (our visual processing centre) and the heart. The idea is to, ‘see through the eyes of the heart’, as we were always meant to see.
Ask your Animal Spirit to breathe golden Sami energy into your third eye chakra and, as they do so, let yourself become aware of the cerebral pathways, lighting up and pulsing with renewed energy. Next, ask your Animal Spirit to breathe into your heart chakra and let yourself become aware of the pathway traced as a necklace from your occiput to your heart chakra, lighting up and pulsing with the same healing Sami energy.
Whether you received the Munay-Ki rites recently or many years ago, this action refreshes and enhances the pathways, as well as serving as a gentle reminder to view the world with compassion.
Is there anything else we can do together?
Remember that your Animal Spirit is a wonderful guide to the Lower World – go off and explore with them. You are going to discover different levels, hidden chambers and fascinating creatures. Enjoy the experiences that lie ahead.
You are going to make great discoveries with your Animal Spirit, who will assist you in finding health, happiness and the best possible version of yourself. I wish you much Munay on your path.